


Take Me Down to Your Paradise

by takennhome



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: American AU, F/F, Genderbend, Genderbending, Genderswap, Girl Direction, Girl summer lovely-ness, Girl!Nick, M/M, Summer AU, Summer Love, american cis!girls AU, cis!girls, cis!girls AU, gender swap, girl gryles, girl!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-16 23:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4643310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takennhome/pseuds/takennhome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A cis!girls, american, summer au where Nick comes home for the summer looking for change. She meets Harry, a senior in high school, who's looking for adventure. Together they sit on docks, eat ice cream, and discover who they are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Me Down to Your Paradise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mozartspiano](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozartspiano/gifts).



> Sorry everyone this is soooo late!! Feel free to add comments and give feedback. I'd love to hear what you have to say. @mozartspiano I hope this fits your prompt! Thank you, it was so fun!

"Nick, Darling!" Nick's mother, Eileen, grabs Nick by the arm and gives her a big hug the second Nick steps out of the car. Eileen hadn’t grown an inch since the last time Nick was home, only coming up to about Nick's shoulder. Her hair was greying a little bit at the top, but it blended in nicely with her blonde hair. 

"It's nice to see you Mom." Nick melts into her mother’s warm embrace. She hasn't been home for, well... not since her freshman year of College. Work and school just seemed to take over her life, and when it came down to it, she'd much rather be with her friends than to go home.  
Pete, Nick's father, waits for them in the front doorway of their small home. He's too lazy to go put some shoes on and join them on the driveway. He looks as skinny as he did when Nick first left, though seeming to have grown some scruff, making him look gruff and intimidating at a first glance.

Eileen takes Nick's suitcase and together they go inside while Pete gives Nick a long hug, "Missed you Buttercup." 

"Missed you too dad." Nick whispers returning the embrace

"You haven't been home in ages. Want me to show you where the bathroom is?" he teases ruffling her hair a bit. Nick laughs, "I think I remember, but hey would you show me where the kitchen is?" she ask absentmindedly rubbing her stomach.  
When Nick has placed her suitcase in her old bedroom, she walks down to the kitchen to see that her mom has made her one of her favorite lunches. So she settles down at the table with a BLT in one hand and lemonade in the other, Eileen comes in to join her and sits across the table. 

"Nick, it ‘s so wonderful to have you home." She speaks softly lacing her hands together on the table, her voice warm and full of love.

"Thanks, sorry it was so last second mom.” Nick apologizes. She wasn’t planning on coming home for the summer until last week.

“How's work coming along? How'd they let you have three months off? I honestly thought it was impossible, I mean you're just a secretary but I guess it's a big company." Eileen jumps in to pry for details of her personal life.

Nick sighs, oh no the dreaded 'mom talks', "They didn't really. This business thing isn't for me. I could barely pay my bills. I need to save up. I think I'm going to try something else." 

"Something else?" Eileen sits forward, "Like maybe settling down and having a few kids?" 

"No, mom that's not going to happen." Nick huffs, already tired of this topic of conversation.

"How is your girlfriend-uh, Louis? That's her name right?" Nick can hear the distaste in her mother's voice. 

"Uh, well...you see, Louis and I are over. As of like last week." Nick grimaces thinking of Louis. 

They dated for around two years, moved in together and became proper College roommates. Louis was her everything. She was incredibly sassy and kind of rubbed most people the wrong way at first. But she was really sweet once you got to know her. Louis was short and tiny and full of energy. Her hair was cropped short in a pixie cut that accentuated her sharp cheekbones and stunning blue eyes. Nick and Louis did everything together. Louis was her first proper girlfriend. She was also the first one to introduce her to smoking, and drinking, and full on partying when they were back in college. They were wild together. There wasn't ever a dull moment when she was with Louis. But they were both stubborn, so there were a few arguments along the way. They were so alike it was unbelievable. If Nick had her own ideas and opinions they were wrong, and Louis was always right. One night it got heated, and Louis broke it off with her. After that night Nick stayed at her friend's Aimee and Ian's flat for a few days. Once she felt fine enough to leave their flat she didn't dare share the dorm with Louis anymore. She quit her job and decided that she was going to go back home to get over Louis over the summer. And here she was.

"Oh." Eileen pursued her lips. She's never approved of Nick dating girls. But that never really stopped Nick.

When Nick was in fourth grade her parents took their family on a trip to New York. Nick stepped one foot into the city and decided that she was never going to leave it. She loves the tall buildings, the roar of the cars and all the different kinds of people passing in the streets. She grew up her whole life knowing she wanted to go back. She studied hard in school so she could make it into college in New York. It was her dream.

The second she graduated from high school she packed up her things, left for New York and never looked back. But the small town she grew up in, Beaufont, North Carolina, is different. It’s quiet and it’s tame and anywhere you look you can see plain land for miles. It's beautiful, in its own way really. There isn't a lot to do around Beaufont. It's a small town, only one high school. Everyone has known each other for years; they’ve grown up with each other. There aren’t usually a lot of new faces.

-

"Mom, I'm heading out." Nick calls as she's unlocking the front door. She's all ready, wearing her favorite pair of skinny jeans, and a flower patterned spaghetti-strap shirt. "Have fun! Make some friends!" Her mom says from the laundry room, making Nick huff.  
So maybe the first three days of being home were a bit lonely. She face timed Aimee for a solid two hours yesterday updating each other on what’s been going on in their lives the past few months. (Apparently, Louis was going out to clubs every night and drinking until she blacked out. Which was better to hear than she thought.) Ian joined them for a while but he eventually got bored of their gossip.  
It wasn't exactly easy to make any friends. All her friends from high school either left like her or had gotten married. She didn't exactly want to hang out at preschool groups all day.  
With all the new free time, Nick was determined to find a job. She's already applied at the local grocer, but there had been no response. Today she was going to check out the shopping center to see if there was anything available there, so she goes to the closest shopping center and looks around, popping into shops and asking for applications. 

"Hi, how many in your party?" Nick was greeted as she walked in. There was a "Help Wanted" sign sitting on the window of the TGIFriday’s. So naturally Nick went in to get an application. 

"Oh, I'm not here for a table. I saw your help wanted sign?" 

"You want to work here? When is the soonest you're available to work?" The girl responds with incredible enthusiasm, her high ponytail swinging with her fast movements.

"Uh, well I don't have really any plans for the next week. I guess - whenever." 

"Amazing!" The girl hands her a stack of papers. "Sit here and fill out these papers and I'll get you an interview right away!" Nick gave her a wary look, cautious of her high level of enthusiasm, but proceeded to fill out the papers. It took a good 20 minutes to fill them all out. There were a few things she knew off the top of her head like, social security, and her birthdate. But it takes her a moment to remember her insurance and she has to sign into her account to see her plan. 

She hands it to the girl at the front counter. "Is there any reason why I wouldn't hire you?" She asks looking Nick in the eye. "Have you gone to jail? Ever killed anyone?" she asked teasingly.

"Unfortunately, my life isn't that exciting." Nick responds a little weirded out. "I mean I'm only here for the summer-" 

"That's fine." The girl smiles, "You've passed your interview. I'll give you a call tomorrow if you've got the job." She smiles at Nick and turns away to walk back towards the kitchen.

That was the interview?  
-

Despite the rather odd interview, Nick got the job. She was now officially a part of the TGIFriday's crew. They called her the next morning at 10, and told her they needed her there by 10:30. Thrown off guard, Nick ran around her room trying getting ready as quickly as possible and barely made it there by 10:45. Although she was late, it was still impressive that she made it in that short amount of time.

Nick scrambles in through the front doors, her clothes disheveled and hair thrown up in a ponytail in her haste to get ready. She’s about to ring the bell at the front counter to get someone’s attention, when a nearby waitress sees her and comes over to her balancing serving trays in either hand.

“Hi Sweetums, how can I help you?” she asked with a bright smile that immediately put Nick’s nerves at ease.

“Yeah Hi I’m Nick, I’m new, I’m supposed to start working her today?” she ask tentatively. “It’s possible I might be a wee bit late?” she gives the waitress her most charming grin, hoping she hasn’t gotten herself in trouble on the first day.

The waitress just threw her head back and laughed. “That’s quite alright love. You’re here now and that’s all that matters. My name is Pixie and I’ll be training you today.” She gives Nick a warm smile and extends her hand for a handshake, which Nick politely returns. “Let’s get started shall we?” she asks and with a nod from Nick she begins to lead her around the restaurant.

"You always see those waitresses on TV and such that don't write anything down when they take orders yeah? Well that's not going to work here, you're going to write everything down no matter how impressive you want to be." Pixie says, after she's shown Nick the kitchen and the ins and outs of the whole restaurant.  
Pixie is very pretty. She's short and extremely blunt to everyone in the restaurant but still never seems to offend anyone, at least not anyone that Nick has seen thus far. She's a terribly big flirt and that’s painfully obvious as she winks at all the cooks as they walk through the kitchen. Nick thinks that Aimee and Pixie would be good friends.  
"Now, I think the best way for you to learn is to follow me around for a little bit. Just kind of shadow me so you an learn the basics, understand how to talk to customers, that sort of stuff." And that’s what Nick does for the rest of her shift. And if Nick’s legs are about to cave in from standing and walking for so many hours, well, she’s not going to complain on her first day.  
She's got the longest shifts ever, working every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from three until midnight most nights. Nick understands how easily she got the job, the restaurant is understaffed and always busy. They must have really needed employees. She starts to get in the groove of things and quickly she learns that being overly nice is the best way to earn the most tips. She also learns that it’s easy to strike up a conversation with customers, but remembering that she’s got like thirty other people to serve isn’t as easy as she thought. She’ll spend too long talking to one table and then realizing she has several others to check in on sends her running around the restaurant like a crazy person. Nick has yet to find the perfect balance. 

She's pretty sure this boy, Douglas, from the kitchen keeps hitting on her. He winked at her yesterday. Every chance he gets he pulls her off to the side and talks to her until she can find an excuse to leave. He's nice, and he's pretty good looking for a guy. But she's just not interested in his gender. Like at all. But she’s trying to be polite and not get on anyone’s bad side. 

-

Thank God its Friday Nick thinks, laughing a bit to herself. It's been a long week and it was only her first  
week. She’s worked every single day this week so she’d be able to get used to the long hours and how the job works. She only needed to get through tonight’s shift and she was free.

She's positive that the only thing that got her through this week was her incoming paycheck. She’s going to buy herself a full steak dinner when she gets that paycheck. The restaurant was pretty busy tonight, there was always something to do, a table to check in on, burgers to bring and cups to refill, there was never a moment to sit.  
"Hey, so you get off at the same time as me tonight? Seven right?" Pixie asks as they're both submitting orders. “Yes, thank God.” Nick praises as she sags against the order bar, getting at least a moment’s time of rest.

"Well, Michelle and I were going to go get drinks with a few friends tonight. Wanna join us?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Yeah of course," Nick's excited, but tries to keep it on the down low. "Could I get a ride-?"

"Of course Michelle's our designated driver. We’ll wait for you."

Once Nick’s shift is over she meets Pixie and Michelle in the back parking lot and they drive up the closest bar. Nick's pretty sure Pixie said they were meeting a few friends. But as they arrive inside, Nick sees that their group takes up more than six tables. There's like 20 of them. A few friends was the understatement of the year. 

Pixie, being the good friend she is, introduced her to all of them. Nick could only remember a few names, let alone the faces they matched. But beside the fact that she didn't know any of their names she found she fit incredibly well in their group. She sat at a table with seven others and joined in their noisy talking. 

After a few minutes she found out a couple of their names. To her left was Daisy. A sweet, very good looking girl just a bit younger than Nick. And to her right was a girl named Alexa who was so pretty Nick was sure she had to be a model. Across the table, there was one guy named Henry, who had a weird mustache. But other than that Nick didn't know anyone else's names.

She joined the conversation well. It was nice talking to people.

"Pixie says you're from New York." Daisy asks, turning to address her.

"Yeah, I'm going there for school. I'm just taking the summer off to come hoe and work a bit." She says as she takes a sip from her drink.

"Were you like downtown downtown?" Alexa asks looking extremely interested.

"Eh, sort of, it was close but it's not like I was in Times Square every day." Nick replies. "But it was definitely the city that never sleeps. Not like here where everything closes at seven." Everybody gave a murmur of agreement.

\- 

"He takes a step backwards and I realize who I've ran into. And I've literally jut run into Austin Mahone. I've literally just cussed out Austin Mahone." Nick recalls. She’s told this story so many times, to all her friends in New York think it’s overrated. But here with a fresh new group they seem to eat it up.

"It gets better, because I'm so embarrassed that I kept walking and I physically pushed him off to the side to keep walking." The table uproars in laughter. Nick is really starting to like it here. 

"Did you ever see him again?" Alexa asks. 

"No, I don't think he'd even remember me!" Nick cackles. She's feeling better than she has in weeks. She hasn't felt this great since…since she was with Louis. But that doesn’t even matter right now.

She’s with a great a table full of great people, all swapping stories all have something to say. It's hilarious, and for some reason it makes Nick feel wonderful, whole. She loves being surrounded by people, and to make it even better all of them laugh at her jokes. 

"Ay, I'll be right back I'm going to get another drink." Nick says as she slips away. 

"Nicky! Let me introduce you to my other friends!" Alexa stops her one the way to the bar; Alexa might be a little bit tipsy. She gestures to the two girls behind her. "This is Caroline, and this is Harry." 

Caroline is tall and has shoulder length brown hair with light blonde highlights and she's very pretty. But Harry, she's breath taking. She's got these amazing soft green eyes (with eyeliner on point) that seem to stare straight into Nick’s soul. She’s got this long soft looking curly hair that’s thick and dark, thrown into a ponytail over her shoulder. She's wearing an oversized baseball tee that's a summery/ flowery pattern with grey sleeves and pocket. Her denim cutoff shorts just long enough to peak out under the t-shirt. She’s the most beautiful thing Nick has ever seen. Now if she could only get words to actually come out of her mouth.

"Hiyah, I'm Nick." She waves to both of them, giving them a big charming smile.

"Hi." Harry smiles up at Nick, only a few inches shorter than her. 

"I was just going to get some drinks, you guys want anything?" Nick offers, they all shake their head no, so Nick proceeds to the bar. 

"Nick seems so kind." Harry says just as Nick's out of earshot.

"Yeah, I've heard of her before too. She was in my sister's year of high school." Caroline says. "She hasn't been back since high school ended though. I think it's because she came out as lesbian their senior year." 

"She's out?" Harry smiles. 

"Yeah, I guess it didn't go over very well but-" Caroline proceeds to answer, but Harry doesn't stick around long enough to hear the end. She's already crossed the room to where Nick's waiting for her drink. 

"Hi," Nick greets. "I thought you didn't want a drink?" 

"Well, I could definitely use one if you’re buying it for me." Harry smiles coyly.

"Are you even legal yet?" Nick asks biting back a smile.

"I'm definitely 21." 

"More like 18." 

"Shhh, don't tell anyone." Harry giggles with a finger to her lips.

"Sure, we wouldn't want you to get kicked out." Nick laughs.

"Then I wouldn't be able to hang out with the big kids." Harry pouts, pushing her bottom lip out. 

"Ah we wouldn't want that now would we?"

For the rest of the night they sat at the bar giggling and talking. Harry even convinced Nick to do a bit of karaoke. The rest of the night is one big blur.

-

Nick wakes up to a text message from a random number 

We r meeting at the mall at 2 x. H

It's from Harry. Nick responds a moment later biting back a smile.

K I'll be there N.

Harry replies minutes later

I don't have a ride :( can you pick me up? x. H 

Sure send me your address I'll be there @ 1:45 

Harry sends Nick her address with a little heart "<3" 

Nick’s heart may or may not flutter.  
-

At the mall there's got to be thirty teenagers hanging around what Harry called, "her spot". They all seem to know her and a couple girls won't stop talking to Harry.

"When are cheerleader tryouts?"

"I've got an automatic spot on the team right?" 

"Are we getting new skirts and pom poms for this year?" 

It's really boring; Nick's never been a fan of cheerleaders. Nick didn't hang out with their crowd often enough back in high school to really care. It doesn't really bother Nick though, so to occupy herself she goes and introduces herself to a couple of guys and pretends to be an expert at sports. Which is lots easier than she remembers from high school. You just have to cheer for the local team and shake your head at the rivals.  
After a little bit the other boys leave and Harry joins Nick and they have a long conversation on which episode of Star Wars was the best. 

"If you think the sixth one's the best. You wouldn't be able to tell a good movie if it slapped you in the face. You probably don't even think that Bridesmaids is a good movie." Harry says in a lightly joking tone, but Nick can tell that she’s a little upset about it. It’s a little bit funny that Harry's so serious about it. 

"Well, I've never even seen Bridesmaids so I wouldn’t know." Nick laughs. 

"What?" Harry's jaw drops open. "You have to see it! Today I'm making you watch it. Sorry but you have no other choice. You're free today right?" 

"Uh I guess so. Is it that good?" Nick asks curiously.

"Yes, it's my favorite movie. We can't be friends unless you've seen it. Come on we have work to do." With that, Harry takes her by the hand and drags her to the parking lot.

Nick totally doesn’t notice how Harry’s touch scorches her skin.

-

It's hilarious. Nick loves the movie Bridesmaids and wonders why she's never seen it before. Nick and Harry hang out constantly after that. Harry goes over to Nick’s in the mornings and leaves when Nick has to go to work. After work Nick goes over to Harry's and they watch movies, eat dinner, and laugh until the sun rises. They've become best friends in less than a week. That should be weird, becoming so close in such a short amount of time, but it’s not. The two of them just click so easily, they get each other. 

Eileen’s even commented that Nick's over at Harry's more than Nick is at her own home. Nick just ignores her though, what he and Harry have created has become a kind of routine. Harry comes over to Nick's in the morning. Harry sleeps in late, which gives Nick the chance to go running, shower and get dressed before Harry wakes up. When Harry wakes up at ten they make breakfast. Then for the rest of the day they talk, dance to music, giggle and surf the Internet on their phones. Nick wouldn't have it any other way.

-

After a Harry Potter marathon, Nick and Harry set up their beds downstairs lying on the movie room floor. Nick hasn't had a sleepover since her junior year. 

They both lie there talking, gossiping, and giggling, just like they're preteens again.  
“What did you want to be when you were my age?” Harry asks, her eyes are full of wonder.  
“When I was in high school, I wanted to be a DJ or be on the radio. I made my own mixtapes, I was always talking. It was the dream.”  
“I love your voice, why didn’t you go for it?”  
“Pete didn’t like it. He wanted me to be financially steady and didn’t think that being on the radio could give me that stability. Especially after I came out. My dad is worried that I wouldn’t get married to a rich, hardworking guy and he wanted me to be safe. And I thought it made sense at the time, and I guess I wanted to be safe so I went into a business major.” Nick had so much hope for the future back then.

“Well, I’m sure that you would have been awesome on the radio. That would’ve kept you plenty stable. That’s stupid.” Harry tried to comfort her, bumping their shoulders together.  
“Yep, but it is what it is.” Nick laughs, cringing internally at her word choice. That was Louis’ phrase. She’d say it all the time.  
Noticing the lull in conversation, Nick was desperate to change the subject. “What’s your dream?”  
“I’m going to become a musician.” Harry says confidently.  
“Oh, so we have an aspiring popstar in our midst.”  
Harry giggles. “Maybe, I haven’t put my face out there yet though.”  
“I’ve heard you sing karaoke, you’ve got a really good shot.”  
“And I’ve heard you, you’re definitely going to be the one playing my music.” Harry giggled.  
“Heyy.” Nick says offended, swatting Harry lightly on the shoulder as they both break out into laughter.  
When they’ve got their giggles out its quiet for a moment and Harry asks, “What's your coming out story?" 

Nick's a bit startled, she didn’t see this coming. Nick swallows and replies with, "Sure-" 

"I mean if that's alright. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable or an-"

"Its fine Haz, honest." Nick says. "It's really not that exciting if that's what you’re looking for. It was normal for a while. All through school I tried dating boys, flirting with boys, talking about boys. I never dated any of them for very long, but it was enough to keep the rumors away. It was mostly an internal battle with myself for the first bit. I didn't understand what it meant and the first thing on my mind was how people were going to react. Eventually, through the internet, thank God for the internet, I started to understand why I didn't like guys. I think that was the first step, getting to know who I was.  
"Then it was telling others. I had a close friend group that I just kind of blurted it out loud to in Junior year. They just nodded and one gave me a big hug. But that was it. I told my family at dinner a couple weeks later. Andy and Jane just sat there and didn't really say anything. Eileen, my mom, cried a little bit. Pete, my dad, wouldn't talk to me for a week.” Nick stopped to take a deep breath.

"It was hard, and there were lots of times that I felt so alone. Before any of it could get better it got worse. Rumors flew around school, just as I had thought. In gym, girls hid in bathroom stalls and told me I belonged in the boy's changing room. Of course, there was a bit of bullying but what else should I have expected? When summer rolled around it started to get better. I was constantly out doing things and Pete and I started getting along better. When school started up everyone forgot about it. Sure there was a bit of name calling and complaints but it had really simmered down. It's funny how people you don’t even know care so much about one little fact. Eventually life moved on and people forgot about it. After graduation I moved to New York to get out of this suffocating town. It was exactly what I needed." 

When Nick's done with her monologue Harry doesn't say anything. She just rolls over and embraces her in a cuddle. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. If it means anything, you're my hero. Not everyone can do what you did."

“Thanks Haz.” Nick whispers and returns the embrace. 

They don’t let go through the whole night.

-  
Jeff Azoff is a jerk, plain and simple. Yes, he's quite funny. Yes, he's nice. Yes, he's attractive. Yes, if she was straight she would totally date him. But Nick isn't straight and she wouldn't date him.

That doesn't stop him from always talking to Harry. As in, he’s always talking to Harry. Always playing with her hair. Always flirting with her. And it's kind of getting on Nick's nerves. She doesn't think she'd mind it as much but Harry doesn't seem to like it either. 

Everyone's at the waterpark, well the closest one that’s like three hours away. So everyone makes a day of it and they all leave early all carpooling and Harry invited Nick.

Right before they left a blushing Harry pulled Nick aside and quietly said, "I need you there. I don't like roller coasters and I'm afraid I'll be pressured to go on one. So like if anyone asks can you like help me?" 

Nick nodded, "Of course." The whole time at the waterpark it's been fun and just the two of them. But then this Jeff kid keeps following Harry around like a puppy. And Nick wants to kick him into next Tuesday.

"Harry, this year I'm going to be the star quarterback on the football team. You know I'd really appreciate the extra cheers from the team." Jeff tells Harry. 

"That's fantastic! Good job, last year we were afraid you wouldn't make it onto the team. So it's amazing that you've improved enough to think you'd make it as the quarterback." Harry kindly said.

"Yeah, lots of practice." Jeff boasted.

This kid was driving Nick crazy. 

"Haz and I are gonna go get something to eat, catch you later?" Nick pulled Jeff off to the side where Harry couldn't hear. 

"Uh, why don't I just come with you?" Jeff asked.

"Well frankly Jeff, I don't want you there." Nick tells him bluntly.

"Well nobody wants to be around you either ya know. You're an annoying pedophile lesbian. Always hanging around with High Schoolers. You've basically graduated from college. What are you still doing her?" Jeff said angrily. 

It wasn't as bad as High School, but it'd been so long since she'd been called things like that. It still stings. Nick stands there almost frozen in hurt and anger while she watches Jeff take Harry's hand and they both disappear into the crowds.

A few moments later she follows after them, willing herself not to cry. She brushes away the tears before they could leave her eyes. She can't find them, and that really worries her. She spends awhile looking in all the places they could have gone. She checks the food court, the wave pool, the game booths and when all hope is lost she spots them right outside of a roller coaster entrance. 

"I don't know Jeff. This ride doesn't look that cool." Harry says nervously.

"C'mon Harry, don't be a wimp. You're gonna love this ride." Jeff teases her. 

"Jeff, if she doesn't want to ride it don't make her. You can go by yourself." Nick buts in. 

"But-" 

"Yeah Jeff, leave me alone." Harry finally speaks up for herself. 

"Okay, I'll have more fun without you." Jeff sneers. 

As Nick and Harry walk out to the wave pool, Harry smiles up at Nick. 

"Thanks.” In Harry's voice Nick can clearly hear in her voice that her fear of roller coasters are worse than what she's letting on.

"Of course, I'll always be there for you." 

"Thank you." Harry whispers and pulls Nick in for a hug. And at that very second Nick feels something. Something she'd been ignoring this whole time. She's got some type of feelings for Harry. It's definitely bad. Nick's number one rule (after always checking for toilet paper before sitting), is to never have a crush on a straight girl. There’s never good ending. And Nick would like to save herself from another heartache thanks. So for the benefit of everyone she pushes her feelings away and pretends they don’t exist.  
-

 

When Harry goes shopping, she goes hardcore shopping. Nick usually gets one or two things and calls it a day. Harry gets bags and bags of things. She's a shop 'till you drop kind of girl.

"You've got to see this shirt!" Harry lifts up a button up with a very colorful pattern. It's so cute, Nick would buy it in seconds if the she thought she could ever pull it off. Right now she's looking at the shop’s selection of skinny jeans. Nick knows she's got more than enough but it doesn't stop her from wanting more. Light wash, dark wash, maroon, black, there's no end to her wish list of jeans. 

A little while later Nick spots her favorite boots. They're ankle high with cute little silver clasps and Nick's wanted them for months. Harry wanders over, "I love those boots. They look like they could go with anything." 

"I know, I want them so bad." 

"Well why don't you get them?" 

Nick flips over the price tag and Harry hisses, "Ouch, that's pricey. But I think you deserve them. C'mon you'll regret it if you don't get them." Nick rolls her eyes, finds the pair in her size, tries them on, and buys them and tries not to think of her debit card balance. 

-

It's the hottest day of the year, which of course is spent at the beach, just the two of them. Harry and Nick.  
They've spent all day splashing each other, jumping in, lazily floating on inflatables, and having swimming contests- Nick won 6-2. She’s having so much fun, nothing in this world could replace this feeling. The feeling of a never ending summer.

When the sun starts setting and the temperatures decrease they decide to dry off and go get ice cream. Together they sit on the end of the dock licking their melting ice cream. 

"I er... Talked to my mom last night..." Harry says, her voice quivering. It sounds like she might cry. "Oh no."

"And well... I guess... Like I thought I'd tell you. Cause like without you I don't think I could have done it. But I've finally put a name to my feelings. I'm bisexual. I like boys and I like girls." Harry says. 

Nick is so proud, a little bit in shock, but nevertheless proud of Harry. "I'm so proud of you, I know how hard it is." Nick pulls Harry into a hug and doesn’t care that she gets ice cream all over her nose.  
-  
It's early one morning, and Nick had just put her hair up in a ponytail. She’s just about ready to go on one of her early morning runs. But just as she turns around there’s a knock on the door. 

It's Harry, wearing too baggy basketball shorts and a Nike shirt. "Hey, whatcha doing here so early?" 

"I'm here to go running with you, I even pulled out my running shoes from freshman year PE." Harry smiles, pointing out a toe. 

"Perfect, I thought that today I'd do an easy run around the neighborhood and then to the park."

Harry smiles, "I'm ready for anything." And starts running in place.  
And so, Harry isn't very fast. It's adorable, Harry huffs and puffs and takes breaks every like thirty seconds. It takes a bit longer but eventually they're done, and then they walk back into Nick's house and start doing their daily routine of making breakfast. 

Harry makes pancakes while Nick makes strawberry smoothies. "Ughhhh, my cramps are so bad this month." Nick moans and sits down after blending the smoothie together.

"Right? I just started yesterday and it's been nonstop." Harry sympathizes. 

"Same, it's so gross and I still want to eat everything in the house." Nick overshares, dipping a finger into the blender to taste the smoothie. 

Harry giggles, "Love, you got some on your face.”

Moving closer, Harry wipes off the excess strawberry smoothie from Nick's bottom lip. Nick's heart accelerates exponentially when she realizes how close they are. 

They both move seem to move in at the same time, as if they can read each other’s mind. Their lips meet in the middle for a soft kiss. There’s nothing racy or sexual about. Just the feel of their lips softly getting to know each other’s.

Wait. Hold up. Nick pulls away, her mind racing.

"Harry, did you? I mean did we? What happened?"

"We kissed," Harry's smile drops, "Is something wrong? Did you not like it? Do you regret it?”

"No, yes, no not really?" Nick's confused. "Do you regret it?" 

"No. I don't regret it. Not at all." Harry says confidently. 

"But like nobody knows about you or like your sexuality. Are you sure about this? Do you feel ready to come out?” Nick reaches her hand down to interlock her fingers with Harry’s and gives them a reassuring squeeze.

"Nick, I’m positive. And it’s okay, I wanna be with you.. I'll be okay, I know you'll take care of me." Harry says biting her bottom lip to hold back her smile.  
“But-”  
"I'm happy with this Nick, I promise. I really like you."

Nick couldn’t stop the blinding smile from spreading across her face if she tried. "Well you’re in luck, cause I really like you too Harry."

-

Nick really wanted to protect Harry, at any cost. She was prepared to keep their relationship in the closet forever. To keep it safe, and away from prying eyes. 

Harry didn't necessarily feel the same way. 

"Nick, I've got you to help me though anything that’s thrown at us. I don't need to keep this on the down low. It's too difficult to expect that." 

"Haz, I just want you safe."

"I know. How many times am I going to have to say this? I have you, I'll be perfectly fine." 

At dinner with all of Harry's friends, they sat together and held hands under the table. Harry then kept giving Nick forehead kisses when she thought nobody was looking. It was impossible to keep their hands off of each other. Harry was especially bad. She wouldn’t let go of Nick’s hand. And if she did, she made sure that it was at least in her lap. It’s making it impossible for Nick to resist kissing her. 

Nick excuses herself from the table and goes to the bathroom to clear her head and wash her hands.  
"Are you okay?" Harry says entering the bathroom after following Nick.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." Nick says. "You’re making it difficult. It’s already hard to keep this under wraps, and with you not keeping your hands to yourself. I just want to kiss you in front of anyone.”  
"Why don't you? I'm okay with it." Harry says. "Please." 

Nick grabs Harry by the back of the neck and touches their foreheads together as they stand in silence for an unknown amount of time, before Nick leans in for a kiss and whispers, "I'll do it." 

When they get back to the table, Nick kisses Harry one more time, this time for everyone to see. 

One girl, Niall, howls at the display. "Harry, how long has this been going on?" 

"Maybe like five hours." Harry shrugs. 

The girls at the table laugh, say congratulations and cheer. It's better than what Harry could have ever hoped for.  
-

Now that it's been a few weeks, the news has spread all over the small town. Everyone knows it.  
When Harry and Nick are walking to the candy shop one afternoon they're stopped by some boys Harry's age.  
"Harry, I didn't know you were into girls. Why did you have so many beards?" 

"No, I like boys and girls. I’m bisexual." Harry stands up for herself.

"You can't do that. It's greedy, you just want everyone to love you. You whore." One of the guys sneers at her and Nick can feel her blood boiling.

"She sure can, now why don't you just leave her alone?" Nick steps in, pulling harry away.

"Whatever." 

"Let's get on our way." 

Harry's shaking, "I just… it shouldn’t hurt this bad. But it does.”

"Shh, I know. It's going to sting for a while. Let's get you home. I'll make you lemonade and we can snuggle up on the couch and watch some totally cheesy Disney channel movie." Nick kisses Harry on her forehead.  
“Does it ever get any better?”  
Nick looks into Harry’s sad eyes, wishing that she could tell her anything but, “No, if anything it gets harder. But that’s why we have each other right?”  
After the movie ends Nick and Harry stay cuddled up on the couch, too lazy to move.

Haz is asleep, or well almost asleep as Nick whispers, "I hope this summer never ends."


End file.
